Good evening, everybody.

I'm gonna wait for just a moment until Sandy gives me the L clear on the recording.

Our our clock up here is off time, so apologies for the quick start.

Um, where am I?

Sorry, sorry.

Um good evening.

I will call the meeting to order the Elk Road Planning Commission regular meeting Thursday, August the 7th at I guess 601 p.m.

And I will start with our land acknowledgement.

We honor, respect, and acknowledge Elk Grove's first inhabitants, the Plains Miwok, who lived as sovereign caretakers of this land and these waterways since time immemorial.

We commemorate and advocate for their descendants, the Wilton Rancheria tribe, the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento County who endure because of the bravery, resiliency, and determination of their ancestors, tribal members, and leaders.

Please take this moment to silence your electronic devices and cell phones.

Hello, Christopher.

Thank you, Mr.

Jordan.

The other last minute switch.

My acting vice chair tonight.

All right.

Yes, fantastic.

All right.

Uh Sandy, will you please read the customary greeting?

Yes, groove.

The Elk Crove Planning Commission welcomes, appreciates, and encourages participation in the meetings.

The Commission reserves the right to reasonably limit the total time for public comment on any particular noticed agenda item as it may be necessary.

If you wish to address the commission during the meeting, please complete a speaker card and give it to the clerk prior to consideration of the agenda item.

All right, Sandy, will you please call the roll?

Commissioners Sandra Poole.

Present.

Verinder Singh.

Present.

Vice Chair Oscar O'Connors absent.

Chair Juan Fernandez.

Present.

Okay.

I will ask Antonio Blog to please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I think of the United States are reproductive for which it stands.

And if you would please join us in a moment of silence.

Do I have a motion for the approval of the agenda as prepared?

Chair Fernandez, I move for approval of the agenda as presented.

Second.

I have a motion and a second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed or abstention?

Carries 4-0.

Sandy, do we have any public comment?

Speakers.

We do not have any slips.

I will not open the public comment then.

Or need to close it.

Moving to the consent calendar items.

Um Chair Fernandez, if you could just open it at see if there's any public comment and then close it just in case someone has not submitted a slip and wants to speak.

Roger that.

Yes.

I will open the public comment.

Sandy, do we have any speakers signed up for the public comment?

No.

I will close the public comment.

Thank you, Chair Fernandez.

And for the regular meeting minutes of June 19th, we have a printed copy and a green sheet.

There was a clarification.

Corrections.

Correction.

Yes.

So we're a correction to the resolution numbers.

That's right.

Do I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of July the 19th with the correction to the item numbers?

Chair, I move to approve the corrected minutes as provided in the green sheet.

Okay.

I have a motion.

I have a second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

All right.

Sandy, will you please read the items on the agenda for this evening?

Item 5.1 is Stonely.

Stone Lake Landing Dutch Brothers.

Dutch Bros.

I believe is the property.

All right, and Joseph is our presenter.

Good evening, Joseph.

Good evening.

I can't get away from the brothers.

Good evening, Mr.

Chair and members of the planning commission.

Joseph Dagamin, associate planner with community development.

This is the Stone Lake Landing Dutch Bros.

Project.

This project consists of a conditional use permit with an exception for hours of operation.

That uh exception is for Dutch Bros to allow Dutch Bros.

To operate up to 24 hours of drive-through operations.

This project also consists of a minor design review amendment with a deviation for landscaping and screening of the drive-thru aisle.

This project would modify the site layout for parcel seven or building F within the previously approved Stone Lake Landing Shopping Center for the construction of an approximately 790 square foot restaurant building with an outdoor patio area and drive-thru service.

And the project would be subject to the climate action plan measures for non-residential development.

The project site is located within the Stonelake Landing Shopping Center, which is located on the southwest intersection of Elkgrove Boulevard and West Terran Drive.

The Stonelake Landing Shopping Center consists of 11 parcels totaling approximately uh just over nine acres.

The subject parcel this evening, which is parcel seven, is outlined in yellow on your screen.

The uh project site is approximately three quarters of an acre.

In terms of surrounding development, the uh retail and commercials to the north, which is on the north side of Elk Grove Boulevard, to the east, uh across on West Terran Drive is currently a vacant uh high density residential site that has an approval for a townhouse future townhouse development.

Uh the property to the south is the California North State University Medical Campus, and then to the west is Interstate 5.

So a little bit of project history on the Stonelake Landing Shopping Center.

Uh, the shopping center was originally approved by the planning commission on May 5th, 2005.

It consisted of a design review for 12 buildings, including two fast food restaurant buildings for a total of 80,050 square feet.

Uh parcel seven, which is outlined in red on the left uh the left image was approved for a 3250 square foot restaurant building with drive-thru.

Um, the shopping center was approved for a with a Tuscan style architectural style.

Um parcel seven, while it was approved for a restaurant uh building, the building was never constructed, but the site improvements uh are installed.

So this is just uh two images of the project site.

One uh figure one from the uh existing shopping center driveway facing east at the project site, and then uh figure two is facing west of the project site of from West Terran Drive.

So this project requires a conditional use permit as it falls within 300 feet of a residential zone property, and then drive-throughs and drive-thru operations when they're located within 100 feet of a residential property, measured from the nearest property lines.

The hours of operation are uh limited to 7 a.m.

to 10 p.m.

So the project's primary use will be the commercial building with the drive-thru facility.

Like I mentioned earlier, they um they are requesting to operate up to 24 hours.

The drive-thru facility, they do not have a traditional uh menu board and speaker box.

Instead, uh vehicles will drive, will enter the drive-thru at one of the two available drive-through lanes on the southern side of the property, where customers will place orders uh directly with an employee using a tablet.

After completing their order of vehicles will merge into one lane and proceed to the drive to the pickup lane.

So, as part of the exception, the planning commission has the authority to grant the exception with this conditional use permit through the preparation of a call of qualified noise study.

So um the applicant did provide us with a noise study.

Establish acceptable noise limits for stationary noise sources.

As you see, the noise levels associated with the drive-thru vehicles and parking lot operations at this proposed location are predicted to satisfy the applicable daytime and nighttime noise level criteria at the nearest residential uses.

Two conditions of approval worth note uh noteworthy.

Condition number nine, we're proposing that the applicant post signs at the drive-thru entrance requiring a reduction in car stereo volume, and then condition number 10 is to prohibit all forms of outdoor speaker amplification at this time.

So before you is the approved site plan for parcel seven as well as the amended site plan for parcel seven, and then and the in the preceding slides, I'll give you a more detailed um configuration of how the site plan works.

So here's a here's a here's the site plan for Dutch Brothers.

As I mentioned, it's going to be developed with a you know uh with a commercial building with a drive-thru.

Um there's also going to include parking lot landscaping and vehicle maneuvering areas.

Access to the site will be provided to the existing shopping center drive driveways along Elkgrove Boulevard, West Terran Drive, and West Terran Court.

The project the project proposes two vehicle stacking lanes, access on the southern side of the property.

As I mentioned earlier, orders will be orders and payment will be taken directly by employees.

Afterwards, vehicles will travel through the drive-thru lane in a cloud clockwise direction and merge into a single lane along the northern property.

From there, vehicles will retrieve orders from the pickup window and proceed back and exit into the drive-thru aisle.

I'll make note that the zoning code requires 180 feet of stacking space, which is required for food establishments.

With this project, 464 feet of stacking space is proposed for a capacity of 18 vehicles.

At the request of staff, the applicant did provide a queuing analysis to determine if the proposed use would impact the vehicle circulation, both around the shopping center as well as well as the right of way.

As part of this traffic study, observations were conducted at the three Dutch Bros locations in Elk Grove.

Based on the 95th percentile, the weekday morning peak, which is 7 a.m.

to 9 a.m., experience fifty observed 15 spaces, 15 vehicles in the queue.

Weekday afternoon peak, which is 3 p.m.

to 6 p.m.

Surveyed 11, and then weekend peak, which is 10 a.m.

to 12 p.m.

observed 15.

So staff believes that a capacity of it of 18 vehicles is sufficient to accommodate the peak stacking without significantly impeding the circulation.

Here's the landscape plan.

The proposed landscaping will include crepe myrtle, hot hollyoaks, and Chinese elm trees, and then a combination of new and existing trees, shrubs, and ground cover will provide screening around the drive-through lane.

As part of this application, there is a design review deviation for the landscaping and screening around the drive-thru aisle.

Our municipal code requires that a minimum of a three feet maximum four-foot tall decorative wall with tall shrub with low shrubs that screen the drive-thru aisle from the abutting right-of-way shall be used to minimize the visual impact.

The project site is currently developed with a three to four foot tall landscape hedge along the drive-thru aisle that the applicant proposes to retain.

That is the landscape hedge that you see in the image on the bottom.

The improvements are consistent with the stone lake landing approval, and staff does not believe that it will negatively impact the adjoining properties.

In regards to the architecture, as I mentioned in the beginning of my presentation, the architecture for the Stone Lake Landing Shopping Center was approved for it with a Tuscan style architectural style.

The image on the left depicts one of the existing buildings in the shopping center, while the image on the right depicts the proposed architecture from Dutch Brothers.

Staff and the applicant did work together to arrive at the building design for the project.

The building facades will be treated with a variety of materials, including cement plaster with earth tone hues, the foam trim accents, a canopy over the outdoor patio area, textured stone veneer along the building base, as well as the canopy support columns, an aluminum aluminum frame window window store fronts, and metal awnings over the windows and doors.

The blue cement plaster tower on the north and west elevation represents the brand associated color selection, which the city has allowed on other buildings and recent shopping center approvals.

So with that, staff has determined that the proposed elevations are consistent with the rest of the shopping center.

So to conclude, the 2005 approval was designed for a future restaurant that met the minimum drive-through development standards of the time.

The modifications meet the needs of the specific tenant.

Approval would not exceed the number of drive-throughs originally anticipated as part of the project.

The drive-thru capacity of 18 vehicles is expected to provide adequate queuing without significantly impeding circulation for the rest of the shopping center.

The site plan and landscape plan are consistent with the requirements of the zoning code and design guidelines.

And finally, architecture is consistent with the rest of the shopping center.

So in terms of CEQA, the project is exempt from CECO pursuance to say CA guidelines section 153 through 2, the infill development exemption, and then no further environmental reviews required pursuance to state CECA guidelines section 15183.

The project is consistent with the community plan general planner zoning.

So with that, staff is here to recommend approval of the project.

Staff and the applicant are available to answer any questions.

This concludes my presentation at this time.

Thank you.

Thank you for the thorough report.

Any questions for Joseph?

Dr.

Cena?

No, thank you.

Thank you, Joseph.

All right.

I will declare the public comment opportunity open and invite the applicant to speak if they are here.

Good evening.

Good evening.

My name is Jason Voorhees from Perkins Williams and Carl Architects.

We're located here in Sacramento.

This is our second Dutch Brothers project within the City of Elk Grove and my fifth uh project in the South Sacramento Elkrove area in the last about five years.

Thank you to Joseph for preparing the staff report.

And that's basically it.

I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

We've worked really hard to maximize the drive-thru.

One thing that Joseph did mention is we do have an escape lane, which if the vehicles uh kind of start to back up in the drive-thru, they can uh bypass the car at the front and be directed to park, and then the employees can run drinks out to the cars, similar to many other drive-throughs lately in the area.

Um, so that helps minimize uh any potential traffic impacts.

And uh, like we're mentioned with uh noise, um, the staff will uh work to you know maintain noise levels at a reasonable level and uh mitigate that.

They have um traffic action plans that can be put in place.

We've done that in other locations if there's any concerns about you know traffic, um, we can provide additional uh traffic plans at request to the planning.

So thank you.

Any questions for the applicant?

Thank you.

Um I was curious um since you have employees standing out with the tablets or whatever taking orders.

Um have you had any issues with folks being out there at three, four o'clock in the morning?

Any safety issues that have come up?

Um I couldn't really speak to that personally.

I'm not aware of any 24-hour locations in this area.

Um, but um I suppose you know if it wasn't busy, usually the staff waits inside, and then when cars come into the drive-thru, then they they go out to greet them.

Um, they kind of staff that as needed, right?

So later at night, they probably wouldn't have a very large queue.

So the staff would be closer to the building and only be moving down the drive-thru lane when the cars back up.

Thank you.

No, no questions.

I mean, I am very pleased with the very detailed environmental noise assessment.

I thank you for that.

And for agreeing to the condition of approval number 10, especially with stereos and all, because the noise is the biggest issue to me, especially in later, was when uh you're close to a residential area.

So I appreciate that.

Thank you.

I had a similar question to Commissioner Poole.

Um, with 24-hour operation, I did not notice a shelter for an employee potentially standing out there to take orders.

Um would there, I mean, would there be a uh shade shelter or rain shelter or um third question?

Yeah, we um honestly the applicant or the the developer and the the tenant recently reached out to me to discuss a possible shade structure.

We've uh kind of put that issue on you know to the side for a moment because we had the hearing coming up.

Um that is something they're considering, and we would have to come back to uh planning to discuss future modifications for that, but that is something they're considering doing.

Right, because even if it's three o'clock in the morning and they'd move closer to the building if it's middle of the afternoon on a rainy day, they might need some yeah, some protection from the elements.

Specifically kind of noted what uh like Chick-fil-A and similar locations have done exactly.

They are thinking about that, yeah.

Although we don't want a huge roof um there, something to protect the employee from the elements.

Okay.

No other questions?

Thank you very much.

Okay, thank you.

All right, and continuing with the public opportunity.

Is anyone um else speaking?

Nobody is listed to speak.

Therefore, I will close the public comment and we will move to commission deliberation.

Thank you for bringing up the item of the the employee being out there.

You know, my my first concern is shade.

Um, but then also if it's late at night, if it's raining, you know, 110 degrees.

We haven't had too many of those yet this year.

Any further discussion or questions?

No, I entertain a motion.

Uh Mr.

Chair, I moved to the planning commission to adopt a resolution finding the project exempt to sequence the state's equal guidelines section 15332.

And no further environmental reviews required under section 15183 and approving a conditional use permit with exception for hours of operation and design review amendment with the deviation for the landscaping and screening for the drive-through aisle of the Stone Lake Landing Dutch Bros.

Project PLNG 23-022 based on the findings and subject to the conditions of approval included in the draft resolution.

We have a motion second and a second, all in favor.

Aye.

Motion carries 4 0.

Sandy, will you please call the old town pub re-roof?

Item 5.2 is the old town pub re-roof.

Good evening, Mr.

Chair and Commissioners.

Kara Killingsworth, the project planner for the Old Town Reroof Project.

The applicant has requested a major certificate of appropriateness in an old town design review type one amendment to modify the roof on the Hayes Market building at 9032 Algorith Boulevard.

The change of material would be from metal to composition shingle.

So it's vice versa, and I'll go a little more detail later on.

There'll be no work at the resident building at 9030 Elkro Boulevard or the Science Center at 9036 Elkro Boulevard.

So kind of go a little bit back on this project.

Again, it's located at 9032 Elkro Boulevard.

It's one parcel with two or three buildings.

Plus, plus there's another parcel, which is 9036, which is a second parcel, but there's no work on that parcel because the reason we're bringing up 9036 Alk Grove Boulevard is because the original application that was approved last year included that parcel because of the outdoor patio area.

So really the work is just on the one parcel with the metal building and the general store, the Hayes Meat Market Building.

Again, no work to the residential building.

The property was built in the 1900s and is on the uh local and national level historic resources.

So in 2012, it was uh evaluated, and some major elements to the building were regarding that's one story, wood frame, rectangular plane, and then the primary facade storefront and the window, uh transium window on the front, and the re-roof would not change any of these key uh defining features.

Uh it was evaluated again and on the national register, and then it was part of the local register uh late last year, and then again the planning commission approved exterior changes that included the roof, but the root roof was supposed to be like for like.

The key idea is to have it become a conditional or a brood prob and a lounge.

Um, once this is all done.

So the historical preservation committee reviewed the application to um in May 27 um 2025 and recommended approval for the re-roof.

They uh looked at the Secretary of Interior Standards and kind of the key elements that they looked at was the location, design, setting, and the feeling, and so kind of go again, same location as what was approved or what was designated as part of the uh um national level, the design of the storefront, the parapet that will not change.

The transient uh windows, the recess entry all will remain the same, and those key defining features will not be changed.

The setting again, it's part of the historic district, and um uh the feeling again, that parapet the general store that will not change with the reroof as well.

So to show you uh the pictures of when it was designated, this um where it says bike America, um that was from the 1980s, and so that's when it was designated.

And the two other pictures is what you see now.

So, yes, the work has been done, and the front portion of that general building used to be composition shingle, the back, the metal building used to be metal, and they've changed it vice versa.

So now the front is metal, the back is composition shingle, but it has been uh reviewed that the original building from the early 1900s most likely was a wood uh roofing material, was not um composition shingles, so really that original uh or that previous uh roofing material was not most likely not original.

With that, the uh project staff finds that the project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act with um section 15301 is the same facilities, and staff recommends that the planning commission finds that this project's exempt from CEQA as well as approve the major certificate of appropriateness in the old town design review type one amendment for this re-roof.

Staff is available for any questions as well as the applicant.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Okay, um, I I just wanted to say we did talk about this in the briefing earlier.

So basically, this work has already been done.

Is that correct?

Correct.

So this is basically a ratification of the work that was done.

So I was curious what's the normal process for would this be something done through the permitting process where they're looking at making sure that it's in compliance with what was approved previously, or how does that happen?

So, because it's a historic uh resource, any exterior change, even if it's like for like has to go through some sort of planning application process that could be a minor certificate of appropriateness or a major certificate appropriateness, and so um they would have to go through planning um to get approval before they go through the building permit process.

Okay, and I guess I I was looking more at the implementation part of it in terms of them doing the work and making sure it's in compliance with what we previously approved.

Um when they go through the building permit pro, so when they got approval last year, they go through the building permit process and staff will review the plans to make sure it's similar to or is what you approved originally, and then they do an inspection with the building division to confirm that what they got approved on the plans is correct.

Okay, thank you.

I have one question.

Um one of the buildings is going to provide a patio for the repub once it's completed.

Is that 9036 or is it nine zero three zero?

Both.

So 9036, where the science center is, in the back of that building, or kind of the back west side of the building will be a patio, and then in front of 9030, the residential building, there will be also a patio in front of that.

That'll be on El Grove Boulevard.

Got it.

Thank you.

I remember we approved a addition of a door to allow access to the patio.

I couldn't remember which side of the building it.

That is correct.

Yeah, the general store, the original approval included a west side uh door to go to that patio that would be in front of that residential at 930.

Right, under the tree in the shade right there on Elkgrove Boulevard.

Got it.

Okay.

Thank you for the clarification.

All right.

Any other questions?

No, I had a great meeting with staff.

Once we sort of figured out uh 9030 was in 1932, I think everything was fine.

Yes, but that's where the whole we won't discuss that, but thank you for the clarification.

Take it care.

All right.

I will declare the public opportunity, the public comment opportunity open and invite the applicant if they are here to speak if they would like.

And I do not see anyone rising to speak.

So I will move on to any cards submitted for speaking opportunity.

Is anyone registered to speak, Sandy?

Um, there are none.

So then I will close the public opportunity for comment.

Would you uh I'm sorry, you would want to open the public comment and then close.

I don't believe you.

Oh, I don't think you opened it, but go ahead.

Yeah, I I I opened it and invited the applicant to speak.

I too, thank you.

Yep, no worries.

Um, so now closing the public comment opportunity if nobody signed up to speak and commission deliberation or action.

Then I will move to adopt a resolution finding the project exempt from CEQA pursuant to state CEQA guidelines sections 15301 and approve the major certificate of appropriateness and old town design review type one amendment for the old town pub re-roof project, PLNG 25-003, based on the findings and subject to conditions of approval contained in the draft resolution.

Second, I have a motion and a second.

All in favor, all right.

Motion carries 4-0.

All right, Sandy, do you want to call item 5.3?

Items item 5.3 is Allen Ranch Medical Buildings amendment.

Good afternoon, planning commissioner.

Sarah Kirschgessner planning.

The project before you tonight is an amendment to a previously approved major design review, the Allen Ranch Medical Building Project.

This would revise the architectural design of the building elevations, and no changes are proposed to the site plan.

The project site is located on the east side of Laguna Springs Drive, just south of Elk Road Boulevard, within the Laguna Ridge specific plan area.

The project site is currently vacant and totals 5.9 gross acres.

As I mentioned, the planning commission approved the Allen Ranch Medical Building Project in 2024, and the project consisted of a major design review for seven medical office buildings along with associated site improvements.

And the project project also included a tree permit for the removal of trees of local importance.

The applicant has indicated that since the original approval, the property owner has been in discussions with future tenants and determined that the approved elevations would not work for medical use due to the location of the windows and is therefore requesting modification to that approval.

Here are the revised building elevations.

It revises the building elevations for each office building to a contemporary design with a variety of building materials, including plaster walls, vertical siding, paint colors include white, gray, tan, and light brown.

Here are the renderings.

While the previous elevations relied on windows, really to provide that visual interest.

The proposed revisions improve upon that design by using windows and key locations along with varied wall planes and updated color palette, modern siding, awnings, signage, and pops of color at the entryway.

Here is a sample of the material of that vertical siding.

There are two colorways proposed throughout the project design as shown here.

The darker obsidian is shown on the left, and the lighter tiger eye is shown on the right, and it's used throughout the project.

No further environmental reviews required under state CECO guidelines 15162 and 15183.

Project is consistent with the Laguna Ridge specific plan EIR and the general plan EIR.

Staff recommends no further environmental review is required and approve the amendment to the design review.

The applicant team is here to answer any questions, and I am available as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions of staff?

The report?

None.

Thank you.

I will declare the public comment open and invite the applicant to speak if you would like.

Good evening, Mr.

Gillam.

Good evening, Chair Fernandez.

Uh Jim Gillam, Gillam Consulting representing the applicant.

Appreciate the opportunity to come before you this evening.

Appreciate all the hard work by staff and the comprehensive presentation that Sarah provided.

Don't have a lot to add.

We're very excited about the project.

Currently working on the civil drawings and are looking forward to putting the construction drawings together once we get this approval.

So uh happy to answer any questions you may have.

Uh just before the disclosure, I did meet with the developers and uh they gave me a details on the changes in the architectural style, which I think actually improved upon auto traditionally approved last September.

So I have no questions at this point.

I agree with uh Commissioner Singer.

Also had an opportunity to meet with the applicant and answered all my questions, um, particularly around the area of ADA compliance.

So appreciate that opportunity for that discussion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, no further questions for the applicant.

Thank you, Mr.

Gillam.

And continuing with the public comment opportunity, Sandy, is anyone signed up to speak?

Yes.

All right, with no further public comments, I will close the public comment opportunity and move to commission deliberation or action.

I can proceed with the motion.

I move that the planning commission adopt a resolution finding that no further environmental review is required under state SQL guidelines section one five one six two and one five one eight three, and approving the major design review amendment for the Allen Rant Medical Buildings Amendment project based on the findings and subject to the conditions of approval contained in the draft resolution.

Second, I have a motion and a second.

All in favor?

Aye.

And any abstained, I will abstain and none opposed.

Motion carries three zero.

Next item, Sandy.

Six point one is the official zoning interpretation.

Good evening again.

Uh, Mr.

Chair and members of the planning commission.

Joseph Dagman Associate Planner, um, back again to present a the official zoning interpretation.

So this consists of an official zoning interpretation consistent with the standards of Elkro Municipal Code Chapter 23.12040.

This uh zoning interpretation um will look at the language in chapter 23.18, which is the effective date and date of final approval.

Just as of refresher, um, when the community development director determines that an ambiguity in the zoning regulations exist, or a formal request for an interpretation is made by an applicant, property owner, interested party to the community development director, the community development director shall prepare an official zoning determination.

So upon review of the staff uh of the zoning code that was prompted by a request for a time extension, the community development director identified a potential ambiguity with chapter 23.18.

So the potential ambiguity here is whether the term final approval is the effective date of the approval as defined in 2318010, or the date of the hearing at which the approval authority took action on the project.

Um this term final approval is actually very important because it'll set the the time frame of how long the expiration date of the project and if a applicant is to request an extension of a of time as the entitlement is nearing its expiration.

We need to know like what is the um the maximum or the minimum date that they need to submit their uh request for the extension.

So the official interpretation is as follows.

Pursuant to section uh 2318.010, the action to approve conditionally approve or deny a permit authorized by Title 23 shall be effective on the 11th day after the date of action immediately following the expiration of the 10-day appeal period, and then as utilized in section 23.18020, the term final approval shall mean the effective date as defined and also in 2318.010.

Um, since an approval does not take effect and may not be acted upon until the 11th day after the date of action, staff believes that it is reasonable to interpret that the final approval date to be the 11th day after the date of action.

So this is a little bit of an exercise, an example of the permit and entitlement history.

So let's use the premise that planning commission takes action on January 1st, 2026.

Although it is New Year's Day, but it is also the first Thursday of the month.

So imagine planning commission does meet that day.

If they vote to approve, deny a project, um, there is the 10-day appeal period.

That 10-day appeal period would expire on um and become effective on January 12th, 2026.

Couple notes worth uh a couple notes worth um mentioning entitlement approvals um typically valid for three years.

Um extension request uh shall be filed within six uh no later than 60 days based on the effective date versus the date of action, which is the public hearing, and then this interpretation proposed here in only applies to administrative and quasi-judicial approvals of Title 23.

It doesn't apply to any legislative actions that are um need to be that are that require city council action.

This project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to section 15061B3, the common sense exemption.

So um, with that staff is recommending approval of the official zoning interpretation.

If you have any questions, I'm available to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Do we have any questions for Joseph?

No.

Thank you for the report.

I I recall that this came up not too long ago that an entitlement was coming close to the expiration.

That's correct.

So it's good to note that we have clarity on this now.

Thank you.

Yeah, because the um we just wanted to make sure that when they when the application was received that they're within the that 60-day or outside the 60 day um requirement.

So we can accept the application as as allowed in the zone code.

Right.

Yep.

Else, if they're within that 60 day window, they would have to start the application process over.

Correct.

So it's incumbent on them to be very mindful of the calendar.

Yes, that's absolutely correct.

When they get to the end of the 2.9 months, two years, nine months, excuse me.

Okay.

No other questions.

Thank you, Joseph.

I will declare the public comment open.

And ask if there is anyone signed up to speak on this item.

No speakers signed up for this item, then I will declare the public comment opportunity closed.

And move to commission deliberation or action.

Um Mr.

Chair, I move that the planning commission find the official zoning interpretation exempt from CEQA.

Pursuant to state sequel guidelines section 15061B3 and approve the official zoning interpretation that the term for quote unquote final approval as used in section 21.18.020 shall mean the effective date of approval as defined in section 23.18.010.

Second.

I have a motion and a second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed or abstention?

Motion carries 4.0.

And the next item 6.2.

6.2 is the climate compass.

Good evening, Kerry.

Good evening, Chair Commissioners.

Um, Carrie Whitlock Long Range Planning.

So I am here to provide information on the draft climate compass, which is the comprehensive update to the city's 2019 climate action plan.

And the draft document is currently available for available for public comment through August 15th, which is next Friday.

This evening we're not asking for any action on this.

I'm just here to provide general information.

Um we do anticipate coming back to planning commission um later this year with a final document for action.

A little bit of background.

So our current 2019 climate action plan was adapted February 2019.

It's been amended three times.

Um we started the latest um update process in early 2023, and as I said, we hope to have it completed towards the end of this year.

So this current CAP update titled The Climate Compass, a plan for implementing Elk Grove's climate sustainability and resilience goals, is a roadmap for addressing climate mitigation.

How do we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions?

As um similar to our 2019 CAP.

The climate compass though goes further as it also addresses climate adaptation.

How are we actually addressing um adjusting to address the um climate change we are already seeing and expect to continue to see in the future?

And it supports the city's broader sustainability and resilience goals.

In addition, the climate compass is intended to be a CEQA qualified climate action plan, which is the same as our 2019 CAP is.

This provides efficiencies for new development applications and reduces the time and expense of preparing a project-specific greenhouse gas um analysis.

So along with the draft climate compass document, the accompanying draft supplemental environmental impact report is also available for public comment through August 15th.

So as a little bit of context for this latest update, the state has done a lot in terms of um reducing trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

They've set a lot of different targets over the years and have become more ambitious in more recent years.

The greenhouse gas emission reduction targets that are in our 2019 climate action plan include those set by the state in 2005, which was an 80% reduction from 1990 emissions by 2050, and from SB 32, which was passed in 2016, which was a 40% reduction below 1990 levels by 2030.

More recently in 2022, the state passed AB 1279, which is the Climate Crisis Act, and that set a target of carbon neutrality or net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

So that accelerated that earlier 2005 target of 80% reduction by 2050.

So it became more ambitious and sooner.

So also in 2022, the California Air Resources Board or CARB adopted an updated scoping plan, and that lays out a path to achieving that carbon neutrality goal for the state.

This includes reducing human related greenhouse gas emissions to 85% by 2045, and using carbon capture and carbon sequestration to achieve that additional 15% reduction for that net zero emissions that they're targeting.

So carbon capture and carbon sequestration include both natural forms of carbon removal and storage, right?

So increased tree planting or improvements in wetlands and natural carbon sinks, but it also includes using technology to remove atmospheric carbon and store it underground.

Also included in that scoping plan from 2022 is an accelerated 2020 2030 target of 48% below 1990 levels, and that's in order to align with that trajectory needed to really achieve that 85% reduction by 2045.

So they've sort of sped up both the 2030 and the 2045 targets.

So the climate compass document addresses both our community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, so those emissions generated from activities within Elkro's boundaries, and it also looks at local government operations, greenhouse gas emissions.

So those emissions generated by the city as an organization for all of the operations and services that we provide.

The document includes an emission inventory, forecast of future emissions, proposed strategies and actions to reduce emissions, and a quantification of reduction attributable to those strategies, and all of these are included for both citywide emissions and for local government operations.

So when we started the climate compass update, we started with a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast.

The quantification of existing and forecasting of future emissions is a requirement under the CEQA streamlining in order to qualify for those benefits.

The community-wide and the local government operations inventories were completed using 2021 data.

As I said, we started this in 2023, and so that was the most recently available data when we when we were able to do the inventory.

When we did the forecasting, we looked at greenhouse gas emissions for two different scenarios.

One was a business as usual scenario, looking at if no further actions were taken and no further measures were enacted to reduce emissions at the federal, state, or local level, what would our emissions look like?

We also did a scenario for no local action.

So just looking at what the federal and state are doing, and what would the impact of those different currently enacted legislation policies at those levels, what would they do to reduce emissions?

In terms of the community-wide inventory, you can see here that big red one at the bottom is our on-road transportation, so all of our vehicles in the city.

And then building energy, which is that orange one at the top, the those two sectors alone account for almost 95% of the greenhouse gas emissions in Elk Grove.

So those are going to be the big sectors that we are going to need to look at how do we address, and you'll see a lot of that when we get to the striation actions.

The other sectors included in the inventory, solid waste, off-road vehicles and equipment, wastewater treatment, water supply, agriculture, all of those together account for just about a little over 5% of our emissions, so much smaller percentage.

This is very similar to our local government operations inventory, where your building and facilities and transportation related sectors account for approximately 96% of all of our emissions as an organization.

So that includes the building and facilities you see in red, the street lights and traffic signals in orange, the employee commutes that you have show there in dark green, and then our fleet vehicles in the lighter green.

So that's all a large portion of our city emissions.

So what I wanted to do next is I actually want to highlight the dashboard that we have created.

Let me see if this will, yes.

So this dashboard highlights really talks about our climate compass.

It's intended to be a document that our residents, our community can really look at, and it helps to visualize what we're trying to do with this.

With this, you can see it talks about our targets.

So up at the top for 2030, we are aiming to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 39%.

We are more ambitious by 2045, and looking to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by that time.

The dashboard also highlights, we talked about the two different scenarios.

It highlights in red here, you can see that business as usual scenario.

If we don't do anything and there were no state or federal action, our emissions would increase from about 1 million metric tons annually to a little bit over 1.8 million metric tons.

While that is an increase, we are also a growing population in Elk Grove.

So in terms of a per capita, it would be fairly fairly stable, but because we have more people in the city, it would increase.

Then that is what that green line actually shows.

It also, if you go down a little bit more, you can see more information here.

This here in gold, you can see this is that scenario of no local action.

So this is just what's going to be achieved by state and federal legislation that is currently been enacted.

So you can see that that will have a very big impact on our emissions.

We can go in with any of these items, you can click into and find more information.

It will tell you sort of which are those key state federal legislation that are having the biggest impact.

Transportation building energy, of course, are statewide as well, very big emission sectors, and so those are ones that the state is taking very seriously.

Within transportation, you can see the advanced clean cars, too, particularly is going to have a large impact.

That one is the requirement that all new vehicles sold in the state of California will be zero emission by 2035.

You can so you can see all of those different, which are the which are the legislation that are going to have the most impact.

For building an energy SB 100 and SB 1020, which require that all of our electricity in this state is from renewable sources by 2045, those will have a big impact as well as will the California building standards.

So you can also with this dashboard, we can get into all of the local strategies and actions that we are proposing in this draft document to enact.

So the ones that are going to have the biggest impact because again our emissions are focused in these areas, transportation and building energy.

So building energy shown here on blue and transportation here in orange are the ones that will be most impactful for us.

With any of these, you can look and see all of the different strategies and actions are listed.

So for transportation, strategy TR2, which is increasing our zero emission vehicle adoption, is going to have quite an impact in terms of reducing our transportation emissions.

Those the particular actions that are included with that strategy.

There's four that are here in the not yet started, these four, and then there's one, there are also strategies listed down in things that we already are starting to implement, have been implementing, so already in progress.

So you can also see here working a lot with SMUD on promoting the EB adoptions.

So that one is one that we are already doing.

With any of these particular actions, you can click on any of them and it will come up with any key performance indicators that we might have of what are specific numbers that we are trying to achieve for the 2030 or 2045 with that particular action.

So there is more information provided for for each of these items.

So with our building and energy, this is having a large impact as well.

And the two ones that are going to have that biggest impact, BE1, which is electrifying and decarbonizing our buildings, and then BE3, which is increasing local renewable energy use and storage.

So any all of those are listed again down here in terms of the specific actions.

So while the state is looking at sort of that net zero goal by 2045, SMUD, as our electricity provider is trying to be 100% renewable by 2030.

So that will have a big impact on us in terms of ensure assuring that all of our electricity in Elk Grove comes from renewable sources.

So the three strategies that I particularly mentioned BE1, B3, and TR2, they make up about 95% of the quantified emission reductions for 2030, and about 87% of the emissions reductions by 2045.

So those three strategies are particularly important to us as we look at how will we implement all of this work.

Some of these, for example, our climate action commitment are foundational ones to help support the work in the other sectors.

So for example, with this, really conducting meaningful community outreach, really involving the community and doing education with them in this is important and will help us reach those other strategies, but there's not a methodology for actually quantifying how those will impact greenhouse gas reductions.

So not everything is actually quantified here.

One last thing I wanted to highlight is we do also have four, as I mentioned, for city operations.

We have strategies and actions as well to help us reduce our own operational footprint.

And so you can see that there's 34 different policies and commitments that we're doing in this area as well to really reduce what the city's greenhouse gas emissions are.

So the dashboard is also intended as we following adoption of the climate compass.

As we get into implementation, we will use this to update, provide progress on how we are implementing any of those strategies and actions and provide additional information on those key performance indicators.

So with that, um I am available for any questions.

I'd love it, thank you.

Sustainability is a hot topic for me personally and my customers.

Any questions?

Yeah, just a quick one.

As I was reading through uh the climate compass, I was looking at table 2.2 on per capita greenhouse gas emissions, and we've done it per capita.

Given that your strategies in chapter especially three and four look at the comprehensive citywide implementation and uh and also for government operations.

Do we know out of the let's say the 2021 per capita emissions of roughly six uh million metric tons uh which is there?

How much of it is contributed by residential or people, how much is contributed by government and how much is contributed by business.

I understand it's hard to uh tease these apart, but do we have rough figures of who is really contributing?

We I understand transportation is the big piece.

Yes, but how much of transportation then is uh folks driving their cars versus the city as the city is one of uh your chapter four operations and how much of it is business causing uh so when you look at transportation, how which how much of it belongs to which of these three big uh sort of buckets?

So we can say particularly with building energy, we did actually look, and I I summarized here we have much more detail, and I'm happy to share that.

Um with building energy, we do have information on residential building energy and on commercial and so non-residential building energy.

So we do actually know how many much admission emissions are coming from each of those different sources.

I don't remember off the top of my head, but I can provide that.

Um with on-road transportation, we do have um at least we can what we can do is we have the numbers for the city in terms of our fleet and our emissions from our fleet, so we can subtract that.

It's not a huge percentage because the city doesn't have a very large fleet compared to all of the vehicles in Elkgrove.

Um we have some information on light duty versus heavy duty, um particularly around our forecasts, looking at um sort of an understanding of how much of our traffic in Elk Grove is more heavy duty vehicles versus light duty, thank you.

And the others basically just a comment.

I agree with uh Chair Fernandez.

Um I mean, basically the 2015 Paris Agreement talked about 1.5 degree threshold and two was uh basically disaster.

And we, as we all know, we've already breached the 1.5 degree threshold.

So I'm glad to see all what you have in chapter two as strategies and actions and in uh chapter or chapter three and chapter four for what the government can do and what we can do as uh a city as a whole, because I think each of us has to do our part rather than waiting for somebody else to do it because once we breach this one point with the magic figure 1.5, especially two degrees, I think it is uh it's going to be uh we'll be beyond the tipping point.

Thank you for your hard work on this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Carrie, for um very very detailed, even though this is just the overview for us.

It's clear that a lot of work goes into this.

And I'm one that's always interested in how this information is being shared with the community.

And I know that you have mentioned that this is open for public comment till the 15th, and then when you were scrolling through, one of the steps was to conduct meaningful community outreach.

Can you talk a little bit about what that would look like?

Yeah, so we actually started a lot of our community engagement early on with us.

We created a climate ambassadors program.

We solicited residents who wanted to really help us with that outreach.

So the city can only kind of go so far in terms of being able to reach out into the community, but we knew community members could go farther.

They have their networks, they have their neighbors they talk to, they have are part of different associations.

So we had a community ambassador program that helped us.

We met with them, they provided us input from what they were hearing within the community as well.

So that was done throughout all this.

We've also done a lot of outreach with, we had a technical advisory group that included, you know, SACOG, the Air District, the Building Industry Association, the Laguna Creek Watershed Council.

So it had a lot of different community groups and interested stakeholders.

They helped us and did meetings throughout the development process to really provide us with information to make this a better document.

We did various different outreach events, trying to solicit sort of at pop-ups with different, you know, community events that were already happening, to talk to community and solicit feedback.

I've done a lot of work reaching out to different environmental groups.

Those different groups to also get input from them.

So we've done a lot to try and you know hear from a lot of the different community members.

I appreciate that.

Um especially the ambassadors, because this it's a lot of technical information.

Yes.

And to be able to have someone that could speak to John Q public and have them understand, I think would be really helpful.

Absolutely.

And we are hoping to one of the um actions you will see in the document is to actually take that program, which was approved to be sort of as we developed the CAP, to actually make it more of a permanent program to help us throughout implementation as well.

Thank you.

Good work.

I'll give you an example of meaningful community outreach.

Carrie hosted an e-bike event where you could go and ride different e-bikes, and I believe there was also an EV, you could do a test drive in an EV.

And when we saw the e-bike on uh super discount sale for Cyber Thursday, my son asked if he could have an e-bike so we wouldn't have to drive him to school.

So he was one of the the audience that um your meaningful community outreach reached.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

Did he get the bike?

We got him the bike.

Okay.

Yeah.

Hi, Carrie.

Thanks again for that great presentation.

Um, just a quick question about um you mentioned this, you know, climate compass um water, water treatment water supply.

What changes are you looking or are we looking to make over the next 20 years with that?

So, water is going to be a key um concern with us, right?

So we do have some um, yeah, reducing water use.

So we do have actions included in here um related to that, right?

So, our our key climate considerations in this region are heat, extreme heat, um, flooding, and drought, right?

That's gonna be sort of the future of California in the Central Valley.

Um, so we are looking at how can we reduce?

How can we use more recycled water in different places for some of those landscaping?

Because we do still want to keep our trees, that's a key heat mitigation strategy.

Um, how do we reduce water use to make sure that we are saving it for those needed items?

So there's a number of different strategies you'll see here.

Some which we're already doing, encouraging water saving initiatives with our residents.

Um, some would be new in terms of looking at water neutral new development.

Okay, thank you.

That's all I had.

Okay.

Okay.

Now my questions.

Okay.

You mentioned 14.5% of the city's vehicle fleet contributed to our greenhouse gas.

Yeah, was this slide?

Of the 14 and a half percent.

Does that include Elkrowth PD?

Yes.

The Elkro PD is 90% of our city fleet.

Yeah.

And what is our um, and perhaps I can um find it myself in the climate compass.

Um, what is our goal to electrify the uh city fleet?

So we actually worked on um uh back in June we took to city council with a um this June, last year.

Was it last year?

Last year, okay, things run together.

Um so we did a uh fleet electrification plan for the city.

So looking at what are our infrastructure needs, right?

The goal is to fully electrify our city fleet by 2045.

Um it will likely end up being sooner because we are doing it sort of on our replacement as new um appropriate vehicles are available.

Um, but we are looking first to to figure out what infrastructure we need.

So that's why we did that plan to figure out for each of our city facilities where are is where are our fleets housed, our fleet vehicles housed, and how do we provide the needed infrastructure to charge those?

So we are looking.

We're working with PD on actually starting a pilot for patrol vehicles.

There's only right now one uh pursuit rated electric vehicle for police, the Chevy Blazer.

Um, but we are hoping others will come out soon.

Ford's been talking about it for a while, they haven't yet gotten there, but we're hopeful on that.

But we've been working with the police department on a pilot to try a few different vehicles with them that are electric to see what could work for their needs, um, so that we can see really how can we more quickly switch over our police fleet as well.

I think we're up to now 13 electric vehicles in our fleet already.

In the police fleet?

No, in the city fleet.

In the city fleet, yeah.

Got it.

Yeah.

Yeah, the police vehicles have the laptops and electronic equipment that need constant energy supplies.

So yeah, understood.

There are some other cities that have actually done police um vehicles, electric vehicles, and so we've looked at those models as well, and what can we learn from them and bring here?

Great.

Okay, um, and then I think you answered um with uh Dr.

Singa's question the um 56 and point four percent of on-road on the previous slide.

That's not just city vehicles, city staff, that's the city at large.

That's the city at large.

56% of it is our our on-road transportation.

Yeah, all of our residents driving around, all of the delivery vehicles, all of that stuff.

I'm gonna go way out on a limb here.

Okay.

Of the traffic improvement plans that we've done, the green wave to optimize east-west traffic.

Do we know if there has been a material impact in the amount of that 56.4% that has been improved by less vehicle idle time, um, more productive transportation time, and is there any way in your mind as the environmental expert to quantify how that money spent for signal timing might help with greenhouse gases?

That is an interesting question.

We have not looked at that directly that I know of.

Yeah, and I think they actually get into uh an interesting rabbit hole of improving that delay time, ends up becoming an inducement to additional travel overall.

And so while you may end up seeing less idle time, you may end up seeing an increase in demand for vehicle travel broadly, which then results in an increase in vehicle miles traveled, which then gets right back to the greenhouse gas issue in the first place.

So the delay idle experience, when we see this um a lot with projects that are funded out of congestion air quality management grant programs, that limiting the delay is eliminating the impact of the idling at the specific location and not a broader issue of overall emissions.

Got it.

So I will also point out the green wave effort that was done late 2019, early 2020, right?

As COVID was happening, we did that initial level of work.

We've since gone through, and all of the controllers in town are getting a huge massive upgrade right now.

I don't think they're fully complete with doing all of that work, but it's gonna allow a lot more coordination ended up happening.

We are not seeing all of that implementation of the new signal timing happening yet, because a lot of that coordination and back end work is still happening.

So a lot still to come on that.

Got it.

But to kind of counterpoint that, if it does, if having the green wave and more productive east west is the issue, east-west travel is more effective, and implementation of more electric vehicles, potentially it's a a net zero or uh a slight reduction of the total amount of climate uh greenhouse gases from that east-west traffic.

You do with the conversion of the fleet, you do have the emissions reduction.

What you still have, though, and do see an increase of is tire particulate matter and road particulate matter breakup as a result of the heavier vehicles and the higher wear on the tires, which is why you tend to see um electric vehicles having specific EV-rated tires on them that are able to withstand and hold up to that over a longer period, and there's more work on that that the tire industry needs to do.

But we do see, and this is an issue we've actually brought up with the regional planning, transportation planning agency SACOG, where we're like, hey, there's you know, why are we focusing so much on vehicle miles traveled reduction if we're gonna see the benefit on the greenhouse gas side from reduction in VMT?

Well, it's because of these other things that aren't exclusively resolved as a result of that conversion of the fleet.

So, and certainly there's also the other aspect of not all vehicles and all service modes of vehicles can be converted at this time.

The technology is still evolving.

You look at heavy duty class vehicles, class seven, class eight vehicles, they still have a ways to go in terms of the technology fully, although we are lucky enough to see where public services our waste hauler is piloting e um electric trash vehicles in our community, so definitely progress being made.

Right.

And I recall um we approved a hydrogen refueling station near Kubota for commercial and class seven, class eight.

We did, although I'll note that Shell, who was going to be the operator of that has pulled out of that market in California and is no longer planning the deployment of hydrogen fueling.

So bummer.

I thought it was a perfect location that proximity to Kubota.

Unfortunate.

Okay.

I threw my statistics at you.

I have no other questions.

Colleagues, no other questions for staff.

Thank you.

Thank you, Carrie.

Um, I will declare the public comment opportunity open and no slip submitted.

Okay.

I will close the public comment opportunity.

And there is no action for this item.

It is informational only, very informative.

And we will move to the director's report.

Mr.

Jordan.

All right, thank you, and good evening, commissioners.

Um, I'll run through this rather briefly.

Um, in terms of recent actions to be aware of, zoning administrator had an approval to a tentative mapping project.

Um, the end of last month, council has also approved the Treasure Homes revision and the Elliott Springs revisions that you saw back in June.

Um second reading on the Elliott Springs matter in particular is scheduled for next week, which would then allow for their phase two map for recreation towards the back half of September after the effective date kicks in.

Uh also at the last council meeting, the council approved a public convenience and necessity for the loop neighborhood market.

This is the Shell gas station at the northwest corner of Elk Road Boulevard and East Stockton.

They're converting their license type in that case to have a wider selection of alcoholic beverages available to their customers.

Um we do have three items that are confirmed for your meeting on the 21st.

So we look forward to seeing all of you uh in two weeks from tonight on those matters.

Um, jumping down to zoning administrator, there's a confirmed meeting for Monday, August 18th for the Sheldon Farms North Apartment Complex for context.

This is a project that is a city owned site.

We're partnering with an affordable housing developer to bring that project to life in furtherance of a number of other city goals around uh increased density and transportation opportunities, potential extension of mass transit services along the Bruceville and Bighorn corridors in the future.

So checks a lot of boxes for us.

And looking forward to that project for consideration at that time.

In parallel with that, and not on the list, unfortunately, uh the city council will consider the uh necessary agreement in order to further the uh density bonus and developer incentive and concession and waivers that are part of that project approval consideration.

Um so that'll be next week at planning at City Council that then leads up to the August eighteenth meeting.

Um we do have other items uh we're working on dates for at the city council, including the annual growth reports as we always do, and the home to suites by Hilton Project.

This is uh a modification and reapproval of a hotel project uh up just up the street here at uh a little bit of the name of the Center Laguna, one of the Laguna shopping center names.

This is the same one where um BJ's in Bitalent and uh that sort of stuff.

There's some vacant piece behind the by talent building, and so that project is over there.

Um so that project was last approved by city council, and so as an amendment would go straight back to them.

No questions of Director Jordan.

Planning Commission Matters.

Will we all be here on the eighteenth?

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

I had eighteenth for the council.

We'll all be here.

All right, very good.

All right, if nothing else, I will adjourn the meeting.

Meeting is adjourned at seven nineteen p.m.

Thank you.